Usually when our ancestors, or even ourselves become a bigger part of history we’re just not aware of it at the time. It’s when the history books write the story and we read it later that we know, even if they did not, that they helped shape the events of that time.

But today, my cousin’s daughter, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, went up in space and for all time she became one of those whose names go down in history books, one of those brave and courageous ones who went into outer space and helped shape history.

Dorothy is one of three educator astronauts, and she will see our world, our earth, in a perspective we can only try to imagine! Just think of what she can share with her students, and those she will speak to in the future.

Dorothy told me that her job will be on the flight deck as the flight engineer for ascent and entry, and she will be flying the Shuttle’s robotic arm, helping move 18,000 pounds of science and engineering equipment.

Dottie said that during the spacewalks, she will be inside as the crew member leading them through the spacewalk.

The launch this morning (Praise the Lord!) was picture perfect, and for the next 13 days, Dottie will be doing what she’s trained for the past several years to do, and those of us here, friends and family will pray for her safety and watch their mission on www.NASA.gov and our local television channels!

This week has been a busy week, so I’m late posting again! Maybe next week will be more on time, but spring is here, and my green thumb is itching like crazy, so we’ll see!

Kenneth Jones Baby Photo - Taken in Wichita, Kansas

This is a neat photo of one of Mom’s favorite cousins, Kenneth Jones. The first time I remember meeting Kenneth, it was at their home on Morris Thomas Road in Duluth, MN when my folks took us all for a visit.

Kenneth was a ‘rock hound,’ something he and my mom had in common, and we enjoyed looking for agates along Lake Superior and another lake. We also had great fun swatting mosquitoes while picking wild strawberries, riding the neighbors little pony, and picnicking.

We’ve lost connections with Kenneth’s children, and I hope that somehow, someway, we can re-connect, and that if they find this website, they’ll take a minute to say “Hello! “

I have to confess that besides being three days late to finish posting my Tombstone Tuesday, this is a family member that I’ve done little research on.

I know that he is buried near family in the Milan Cemetery, Milan, Kansas. This nice little well-kept cemetery is located about one mile west of Milan on the North side of the road, about 15 miles west of Wellington, Kansas on Highway 160. (You can’t miss it unless you’re driving too fast, or looking for a much bigger cemetery.)

When I first began researching, my only focus was on our direct lines. If they weren’t ancestors, I documented their names, and passed right on by them.

I know better now. I know that researching our ancestors’ siblings may do all kinds of wonderful things. In particular, it may help us connect the dots between our ancestors. But we’ve also been fortunate enough to find photographs of our direct ancestors among their siblings’ lines, a treasure well worth searching for indeed!

I do know that Walter, or “Uncle Walt” as I heard him referred to (he had passed on before I was part of the family) was the son of James and Elizabeth Kline. If I remember right I believe that he did not marry.

But there are many other things I don’t know about Uncle Walt. Will he be on all the census in Kansas? What did he do for a living? Did he leave a will? What does his obituary say about him?

So maybe it’s time I took a new look at our ancestor’s siblings, and maybe they can help shed some light on the direct line of our own family tree.

(And please, if you stumble across this site and you are ‘family’, stop, take a minute, and say ‘hello’. We’d love to meet you, and I have much more info that just isn’t posted yet!)